All About Chappell Roan's Parents, Dwight and Kara Amstutz

Meet Chappell Roan’s parents. The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer is the daughter of Dwight and Kara Amstutz born in February 1998 and raised in Willard, Mo. Roan, whose birth name is Kayleigh Amstutz, the singer has skyrocketed to stardom since her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in September 2023. She has been described as a “queer pop superstar in the making” by the LA Times and the “queer pop moment” by Vogue at the time of the album’s release. Since then, she’s toured with Olivia Rodrigo, received praise from Elton John, graced the 2024 Coachella lineup and most recently, drew an unimaginable crowd to her Governor’s Ball set in New York in June. Her success, meanwhile, has been a decade in the making. “I rose from the ashes of losing all my money and moving back in with my parents and working the drive-through,” she told Variety in September 2023, adding, “This beautiful project came to life from the deep pits of hell.” Much of the pop star persona she’s cultivated was shaped by her upbringing, the Midwest she pays homage to in her music and style. Being raised in a strict, Christian household impacted her as a kid and influenced much of who she is today. Dwight and Kara, too, are Missouri natives. Roan has been transparent about her family’s differing “views and values,” though she has said “they still support” her projects. Read on to learn more about Chappell Roan’s parents, Dwight and Kara Amstutz. They are from the Midwest Kara and Dwight are from Missouri, where they raised Roan. The singer — who titled her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess — grew up in a trailer park in Willard, a tiny town of approximately 6,344 people. Roan is proud of her hometown, notably referencing her Missouri roots in her songs and honoring her “dying town” (a lyric in her song “California”) through her fashion and music visuals. However, growing up she felt the need to escape. Synonymous with Roan are drag-inspired looks, from bright and bold eye makeup to glittery and shimmery rhinestone appliqués. Plus, her campy outfits — like aliens, clowns, devil looks and most recently the Statue of Liberty at the 2024 Governor’s Ball in New York City — are what makes her pop star persona unique. When speaking to The Washington Post in October 2023, Roan explained the double meaning behind her music persona and how it came to be. “It’s all rooted in, like, fun drag stuff and queer culture, but it’s also kind of like a ‘f— you’ to the people who hate me,” she said. “There’s a special place in my heart for queer kids in the Midwest because I know how they’re feeling and I know how isolating it can feel,” she told the outlet. They own their own veterinary practice Roan’s mother Kara was born and raised in Springfield, Mo. and is an established veterinarian and founder of River Canine Rehabilitation. She earned her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Missouri in 2000 and started Hometown Veterinary Hospital two years later. She went on to earn advanced certifications in canine rehabilitation therapy, veterinary pain and acupuncture. Her husband, Dwight, manages the family practice in Springfield. While he primarily provides administrative assistance to the Canine Rehabilitation Institute team now, he trained as a registered nurse and worked in neuro and burn intensive care units. They raised Chappell in a Christian household Roan grew up in a Christian conservative household. She’s been open about her strict upbringing and how it’s impacted the person she is today. When speaking to Variety in September 2023, she described herself as a “goody two-shoes” who “wanted everyone to like me.” While she said she “wanted to feel like a good person,” there was a piece of her “that wanted to escape so bad.” “I just wanted to scream,” she told the outlet. “I snuck out a lot, but I still went to church three times a week, you know what I mean? So it was just this dichotomy of trying to be a good girl, but also wanting to freaking light things on fire.” Meanwhile, Roan came from what she called a “really depressed” childhood. “I was diagnosed bipolar when I was 22, but as a child I think my parents just thought I was being a brat, so I had such a difficult time,” she said. They helped Chappell when Atlantic Records dropped her The stardom that Roan has amassed today was no cakewalk, though it seemed to be at first. It wasn’t long after she posted covers on YouTube that she was signed by Atlantic Records as a teenager. “I was 17 and I thought I was gonna win a Grammy,” she told The Guardian in December 2023. “It’s funny, because, when you sign to a label, that’s when the real work begins.” From there, Roan traveled to Los Angeles to pursue her dream and worked with top talent like Dan Nigro (notable for his collaborations with Olivia Rodrigo). She hustled throughout her late teens and early 20s to develop her sound. But after the release of the single “Pink Pony Club” in 2020, she was dropped by Atlantic later that year. She moved back home to Willard and lived with her parents. “I felt like a failure, but I knew deep down I wasn’t,” she told The Guardian. In fact, she told The Washington Post of being tied to the label: “I was definitely being held back.” Kara isn’t a fan of Chappell’s lyrics Roan’s lyrics are pop-fun-filled, but raunchy to say the least with lyrics like, “Feels like pornography / Watching you try on jeans.” “My mom hates it,” Roan told PEOPLE of what Kara thinks of her lyrics. Her parents have ‘opposite views,’ but support her career Despite her family’s different views, Roan is thankful for her upbringing. “Thank God I came from the Midwest because I understand the people,” she told Variety. “I have family who have complete opposite views of my views and my values, and they still support my project,” she said. “I have this perspective that I think people on the coasts don’t have of the people there. I know where they’re coming from. It’s just not that black-and-white.” She told Springfield News-Leader that her parents and siblings “always have been” supportive of her projects — plus her late grandfather, Dennis Chappell. (Her stage name honors him, in addition to his love for Marty Robbins’ “The Strawberry Roan.”)